There has been a long recognized need to contain and mount small to medium sized items (including lights, utility dials, televisions and beverages) in a passenger vehicle and within the reach of the occupants of the vehicle. Many passenger vehicles are manufactured and sold with one or more consoles installed in them, usually between the driver's and front passenger's seats. However, some vehicles are lacking such conveniences in their design and still others, such as vans and trucks, may have only one such console for the front or back seat occupants, or only on the floor, even though such a device would be desirable in other areas of seating in the vehicle or on the interior ceiling. Indeed, there has been a long proven market for consoles that can be added to a vehicle after the vehicle has been designed and manufactured. Numerous such consoles and food trays of varying shapes and sizes have been designed in embodiments that adapt to being mounted or placed on the floor, ceiling, seats, dashboards, and even doors of vehicles.
Heretofore, such passenger vehicle consoles have suffered from several deficiencies. Specifically, such consoles are usually formed of hard plastic, wood, metal or a combination thereof, and the various pieces are attached together by conventional fasteners or hinges. Such consoles are somewhat easily cracked or broken, generally lack insulation, are expensive, and more importantly can be a safety hazard for the vehicle occupants. The forces present in a vehicle under normal operation or the extreme forces present due to an accident can cause an occupant to be thrown into such consoles or, if not securely fixed to the vehicle, the console can be thrown into the occupants. Whether or not the console is attached to the vehicle, a passenger risks coming into contact with the console as a result of such forces. Additionally, particularly with ceiling mounted consoles in conversion vans or the like, the occupants of the vehicle are likely to strike their heads on the console as the occupants move around inside the vehicle or are getting in or out of the vehicle. Also, the larger consoles and the more conveniently placed consoles seem to be more of an obstruction to movement of the passengers of the vehicle, and therefore more likely to interfere with leg, foot and head movements of the passengers.
With the forgoing disadvantages of the prior art in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a passenger vehicle console for containing and mounting small to medium sized items that can be placed within reach of the operator and/or passengers of a vehicle that provides a soft exterior that is resilient upon contact with occupants of the vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a console that is relatively inexpensive and easy to install with conventional console installation means.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a console that is easy to clean, insulated, shatter proof, non-breakable, and which is compatible with the position and movements of adjacent structural components of a vehicle.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.